The “panopticon” might be the best known prison concept in the world. In the original design, all the cells are built around a central guard tower, designed to maintain order just by making prisoners believe that they are constantly being watched. Over time, the panopticon has turned into something way bigger than just a blueprint for penitentiaries. It’s become the metaphor for the surveillance state. Philosopher Michel Foucault had probably the most popular take on the panopticon concept. He used it to warn society that what actually keeps all of us in check isn’t necessarily that someone is watching you. …
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The rise, fall, and unexpected second life of the crosscut saw is also the story of how America created the very concept of wilderness.
Two stories about the transformative power of silence from our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz
Friction, tribology, and the complex art and science of lubrication
When online worlds end
The surprisingly long history of trying to use robots to call balls and strikes in baseball
The importance of humor and art in protesting (and ousting!) oppressive regimes
When LA punks were looking for a place to play in the late 1970s, Chinatown welcomed the unruly scene. But it was an uneasy alliance that led to fierce rivalries, hurt feelings, blatant racism, and broken toilets. At the center of it all was Esther Wong.
On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new technologies threatening their livelihoods, so they refused to record until they got their fair share.
In the 20th century, Iowa high school girls basketball was HUGE but it was not the game we know today
How an ultra-marathon called The Comrades became a national obsession in South Africa and a model for inclusion during some of the most divided moments in the country's history
The shifting symbolism of Brazil's iconic yellow soccer jersey
We’re kicking off the new year at 99pi with a fresh installment of mini- stories, including: what lies at the intersection of a street and a road; the most unlikely of theme parks; and the evolution of ancient alleyways in Beijing, China.
A Balikbayan box is a huge cardboard box (often weighing over 100 pounds) that Filipinos living all over the world send to family members who are still living in the Philippines
It's Mini-Story Season! You’ll hear about a very, very long escalator! Beavers dropping from the sky! We’ll hear from Janet, Miss Jackson, if you’re nasty! And a visit from the queen!
If you’ve ever flipped through the radio dial — not satellite, not podcasts, but good old-fashioned AM and FM radio — you may have noticed something. Right wing radio talk is everywhere.
The epic tale of the Hollywood celebrity mountain lion known as P-22
There is a subset of real life superheroes who are more focused on things like picking up trash and taking on civic issues than catching criminals in alleys
The incredible story of the black men who became America's first paramedics
Roman and Kurt are back with another series of railroad tales. All aboard!